Students will gain hands on experience evaluating the health and welfare of multiple endangered species of prosimian primates (lemurs and lories) in a captive environment.
The veterinary student will spend ~ 1/3 of the rotation working closely with the clinical veterinary staff managing and working up cases and providing treatments to sick animals; ~ 1/3 of the rotation with the Curator, a DVM boarded in the American College of Animal Welfare, exploring welfare issues related to managing wildlife and primates in captivity, their use in research, and welfare issues associated with conservation; and the reaming 1/3 of the rotation working with the Center's Behavioral Manager who has a Masters in Animal Welfare Ethics and Law. The focus of this particular externship is to familiarize the students with animal welfare principles applicable to captive wildlife in zoos and in research settings.
The student will learn how housing, diet, social structure, husbandry, and health care impact exotic animal well-being. Experience performing assessments during major life events and at the end of life is incorporated into the externship to familiarize the student with different approaches to assessing welfare. As part of the rotation the student will spend time at Duke University's Office of Animal Welfare Assurance learning about institutional mechanisms for ensuring the health and welfare of animals in research settings, regulations pertaining to the use of animals in research, and compliance monitoring.
The student is expected to complete assigned reading and do a short project while on site.
The Duke Lemur Center has a staff of ~ 40 people including veterinary, husbandry, behavioral managment, tour and education, and conservation personnel. The Duke Lemur Center is a division of Duke University and has access to all the amentities offered by a major University including access to 5 different libraries, online resources, technical support, and occupational health and safety.
The Lemur Center has fully equiped veterinary surgery and treatment rooms to manage medical cases. Other diagonstic equipment includes digital radiography, ultrsound, endoscope, and quarantine areas. The veterinary department consists of 2 veterinarians and 2 registered veterinary technicians. The Curator is also a veterinarian and has over 30 years experience in clinical medicine and field research in addition to training in animal welfare and board certification in the American College of Animal Welfare. The Behavioral Manager has extensive experience training wild animals in zoos and aquariums and has a masters degree in Animal Welfare Ethics and Law.
The Lemur Center is a state of the art research, educational, and conservation facility housing ~ 230 animals of 18 different species. It is the only facility of its kind in the world and is the only organization in North America that is both AAALAC and AZA accredited.
Students are expected to be at the Center from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday during the externship. Students may elect to be notified of emergency cases on the weekends and are free to shadow the on-call veterinarian on weekends. Work outside of time on the premises is required to complete assigned reading and a special project that is due prior to completion of the internship. Mentors are on site Monday through Friday and are available by phone or e-mail on the weekends. The DLC has wireless capability in all administrative, research labs, and animal housing buildings.
A rustic cabin located ~ 1/4 mile from the Center is available for students to stay in if desired. The cabin has heat, air condiditoning, a kitchen, 4 bedrooms and a bathroom. It does not have wireless. Pets are not allowed. People staying at the cabin must bring their own towels and bed linens. Grocery stores and restaurants are located several miles from the cabin so students must have thier own car as well as a cell phone in case of an emergency. Cost is $20/day. The person to contact for more information and to reserve space is Erin Ehmke (erin.ehmke@duke.edu).